Andrei Gromyko

Andrei Gromyko (18 July 1909-2 July 1989) was Foreign Minister of the USSR from 15 February 1957 to 2 July 1985, succeeding Dmitri Shepilov and preceding Eduard Shevardnadze.

Biography
Andrei Gromyko was born in Staryya Hramyki, Mogilev Governorate, Russian Empire (now Gomel, Belarus) in 1909, and he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1931. He studied economics and agronomy at Minsk, and he became an economist with the USSR Academy of Sciences. He joined the diplomatic service in 1939 and was soon noticed by Vyacheslav Molotov, who appointed him to the highly sensitive post of ambassador to the USA in 1943. He represented the USSR at the Dumbarton Oaks conference, and at the United Nations (1946-8). He served as Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1949 to 1952, and was ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1952 to 1953, and again Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1953, until he succeeded Molotov in 1957. He became loyal to Nikita Khrushchev and then Leonid Brezhnev, and gradually increased his power as he matured in his post. His influence peaked during the weak rule of Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko, so that in 1985 his support proved crucial in Mikhail Gorbachev's appointment to the party leadership. He was replaced by Eduard Shevardnadze in an effort to improve relations with the United States, and was made head of state (Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet), serving from 1985 to 1989. He was removed from office just before his death.